Combination floor washer and drier



Apmifi EH1, m J. L. DEEGAN, SR

COMBINATION FLOOR WASHER AND DRIER Fi led Aug. 17, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet lWW Nam m April]? My J. n... DEEGAN, SR

COMBINATION FLOOR WASHER AND DRIER Filed Aug. 1'7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2y in N E Joy/V Z, flffC-IAM 5/1,

Aprili H, W39 J. L. DEEGAN, SR

COMBINATION FLOOR WASHER AND DRIER Filed Aug. 17, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 5Fl Q - l #lillWlfi N w mmm \w Q Q Q @N xv W mw AW W39 J. L. IDEEGAN, SR2v15396@6 COMBINATION FLOOR WASHER AND DRIER Filed Aug. 17, 1937 4Sheets-Sheet 4 59 J6 55 6.5 5 ii 6/ i ya? 6 fig; f 5 7 V /07 9 Q} I an 7Z5 95 jg;

1 Patented A r. 11, 1939 Umrso srAras m -m OFFICE 2,153,686 COMBINATIONFLOOR WASHER. AND DRIER John L. Deegan, Sn, Pottstown, Pa.

Application August 17, 3 Claims.

This invention relates to combination floor washers anddriers and moreparticularly to power actuated devices of this class.

One object of this invention is to provide a new and improved device ofthe class described. .Another object. is to provide a device which isreadily convertible from a floor washer into a floor drier and viceversa. A further object is to provide a device of this class which ispower actuated. Another object is to provide an electrically drivenfloor washer and drier. Yet a further object is to provide a device ofthis ldnd which is .readily assembled and taken apart. Other objects andadvantages of this invention will appear in the following descriptionwhen considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

. In the drawings Fig. l'is a plan view of an apparatus incorporatingfeatures of this invention. -Fig. 2 is a side elevation taker: on theline 2+-2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse longitudinal cross sectionthrough the apparatus taken on the irregular line 3-3 in Fig. 1'.transverse cross section of the agitator taken on the line 4-4 in Fig.3. Fig. 5 is a horizontal transverse cross section taken on the line 5-5in Fig. 3 Fig. 6 is a detail section on the line 66 of Fig. 3. Fig. 'lis' a detail section taken on the line 'I| of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a detailsection taken on the lines 8-8 in Figs. 2 and 7, and Fig. 9 is afragmentary view in side elevation illustrating the I split. bearing.The device contemplated by this invention includes a housing providedwith means for manually moving the device from place to place, and poweractuated means for driving an endless fab.

ric belt through a body of liquid and through a means for adjustablyvarying the degree of .dry-' ness of the fabric after it leaves the bodyof liquid. The device also includes means for allowing the fabric toengage a floor surface so thatit may either wash or dry the floorsurface.

The device comprises a housing ll) which has an over-all longitudinalconfiguration like a trapezoid. This housing comprises the lower portionll having an open top and a removable top portion l2 which is adapted tobe secured to the lower portion by means of a plurality 'of fasteningdevices I3, l4, l5, It. At the rear ll of the housing is provided meansfor moving the prises rollers ,l1 and I8 which are rotatably secured onthe brackets 19 and 20 by the axles 2| and 22. The brackets may besecured to the housing by the fastening means 23 and 24 or they 55 maybe made an integral part of the housing if Fig. 4 is a vertical.

device fromplace to place. This means com-- 1937, Serial No. 159,557

such construction is adapted to production methods. For the purpose ofcooperating with these rollers and manually moving the device about, a.handle 25 having a bifurcated end, provided with arms 26 and 21, ispivotally secured to the side.of 5 the housing as at 28 in Fig. 2. Thispivot point can be shifted to some other position depending upon theexigencies of construction.

The portion ll of the housing It) includes a bottom 3|, a front wall 32,a rear wall 4| and a pair of side walls 33". The lower portions of thefront and rear Walls are inset with respect to the lower corner portionsof the side walls, as at 33 to form outwardly opening. recesses 38, 39.The upper parts of the walls 32, 4| are formed with openings 64, 42constituting an outlet and an intake respectively.

The cleaning and drying operations are accomplished by means of anendless conveyor or belt 29 preferably made of an appropriate wovenfabric material. The belt 29 includes a forwardly travelling upper run29 which passes through the portion l l of housing ill, a downwardlytravelling leading run 29 arranged on the outer faceof wall 32, arearwardly travelling bottom run 30 and an upwardly travelling followerrun 49 arranged on the outer face of wall 4|. The belt 29 has a floorengaging portion 39 which travels along the lower face of the bottom 3iof the housing and which is provided by the lower run of the belt. The30 upper run 29 of the belt enters the housing through the intake 42 andpasses from the housing through the outlet 64. The leading run 29 of thebelt travels downwardly from outlet 64 and around roller 34. i Thefollower run 490i the belt ,35 travels upwardly around roller to theintake 42. The rollers 34, 35 are arranged in the recesses 38, 39respectively and are carried by shafts 36, 31 respectivelymounted on thelower corners of the side walls 33*. The belt after entering the hous-"40 ing is engaged by the inter-engaging paddle wheels 43 and 44, theformer being supported in the lower part of the housing by a shaft 45and the latter being supported in the upper part by a shaft 46. Thesetwointerlocking paddle wheels form the 45 power .drive for the fabric beltand pull the belt through and about the floor washer. Each wheelcomprises a pluralityof radially extending interengaging paddles 41 and48 respectively. The interengaging of these paddles firmly grips the 50fabric as at the point 59.

The endless belt has an angularly downwardly extending stretch 5|,extending between the power paddles 43 and 44 and passing at itslowermost point 52 about the agitator paddle 53, and 55 stretch 54passing around the upper roller-55. The lower portions of these twoangularly extending stretches of the fabric belt extend through a bodyof liquid 55 which latter is the liquid used for washing .and cleaningthe floors or other surfaces being treated. When it is desired to drainthis body of liquid from the housing it is accomplished by opening thedrain plug 51 in the lower .right hand part of the housing asseen inFig. 3.

The agitator 53 is rotatably mounted upon a central shaft or axle58which latter is slidably secured in appropriate bearing portions carriedby the side walls of the housing I I and 59. The agitator itself iscomposed of a plurality of radially extending blades 60, GI, 82 and 53which are oppositely tapered as in Figs. 4 and 5. The spoke portions 80and 62 in Fig. 4 tapering from left to right and the blades BI and 83tapering from right to left. It will be readily appreciated that thefabric belt inpassing about this agitator member.

will be receiving beating action at the opposite sides so that dirtremoved from the surface being v cleaned will be permanently liberatedfrom the fabric and will be released into the body of liquid.

It will now be appreciated that when it is desired to wash a floorsurface that the fabric endless belt will be driven by the power paddles43 and 44 and will pass through the body of liquid being thoroughlytreated and will then pass around the power driven roller 55 out of thefront opening 64 of the forward housing wall 55 and will passdown-around the roller 34 cleaning the floor surface and then around theroller 35 back into the a end against the bearing member II and at theopposite end against the collar 13 which is secured to the shaft by aset screw 14. A similar arrangement is also on the inside of theopposite wall of the housing audit will be readily understood that bysetting'the collar at different points the slack in the belt isyieldably taken up.-

When it. is desired to use the device as a drier thedrying roller I5 isadjusted by the adjusting screw 18 sothat it squeezes the endless belt28 between the two rollers 55 and 15. In this manper the liquid issqueezed out of thefabric belt so that the stretch ofv belt coming incontact with the surface being treated is suiliciently dry so that itwill readily absorb liquids on the floor surface.

The dryingroller is free to rotate on the shaft '11 which latter iscarried by a yoke I8 which isin turn carried by the adjusting bolt I8.This latter is screwthreaded and passes through a threaded.

portion of the abutment 80 in the housing member I2. It will beunderstood that if it is desired to replace the fabric belt that whenthe top I2 of the housing is removed that the rollers 48 and I5 will beremoved with it. All that remains necessary is to remove the shaft 58 sothat the agitator paddle may be .removed and to disconnect the splitbearings, holding the shaft 61 so that the roller 86 may be removed. Thefabric is then easily removed from the device.

en by the gear 9|.

then it has anangularly upwardly extending The power drive for theapparatus is obtained by mounting a motor 8I on the top member of thehousing and providing the motorwlth a worm wheel 82 which is keyed at 83on the motor shaft 84. The'worm wheel on the motor shaft engages theworm 85 which latter drives the shaft 86. The shaft 06 is supported onthe side of the housing by the bearing members 81, 88, 89 and 80. Theworm wheels 9| and 92 are respectively se-. cured at the opposite endsof shaft 86. The worm wheel 02 drives the shaft 45 by means of the wormgear which is secured to the'shaft 45 and which meshes with the wormgear 92.

The roller 55 is mounted on a drive shaft 04 and the latter-is driven bythe worm wheel 0| through the intermediation of the worm gear 85, thelatter being fastened to the shaft 84 and driv- It is now readilyunderstood that the motor by means of the various drive shafts andgears, effects a power drive to the wheels 55 and 43 which in turneffect the movement of the fabric belt. Appropriate housing parts notshown are arranged to conceal the various gears in the power drive sothat they will not injure the operator or catch or engage in anymaterials or objects which they might damage.

A plurality of adjustable casters 95, 91, 98 and 90 are provided for thepurpose of varying the amount of pressure on the fabric; Each caster isrotatably mounted upon an axle or shaft I00 which in turn is carried bya shaft IOI having an integral rack bar I02. A segment of a pinion I03is pivoted at I04 with its teeth meshing with the rack on the shaft I0I. All of these parts are secured upon a plate I05 which in turn issecured to the housing. The opposite end of the segment pinion isprovided with a lever arm I 08 at the outer end of the latter, andadjustable locking means is provided so that the casters may be raisedand lowered in the proper position. The locking .means comprises aplurality of holes I01 bored into the plate I05 and a yieldable pin I08which is arranged to engage in the various holes. Each pin contains akpurled operating handle I09 and has a collar secured at an innerportion of the stem III with a spring II2 positioned between the collarand the arm I 08 so that the pin is normally urged into the hole. Thecasters are adapted to travel on the floor when moving the device fromplace to place.

The baffles H3 and II 4-prevent sloshing out of the liquid.

Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been illustratedand described, variations coming within the true spirit and scope ofthis invention are to be determined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

body of liquid, and a liquid carrier in the form of a driven endlessbelt including an upper run for passing through the housing to contactwith the liquid and other runs for travelling about the housing, thecombination of a slidably mounted removable shaft arranged within thelower portion of and adapted to be supported from opposed walls of thehousing, and a revoluble agitator element carried by said shaft andincluding ra'dially disposed blades; each blade being tapered lengthwisefrom one end to the other, said blades being alternately disposed withrespect to each other.

2. In a floor washing and drying device of that type including a housingadapted to contain a .body of liquid, and a liquid carrier in the formof a driven endless belt including an upper run for passing through thehousing to contact with the liquid and other runs for travelling aboutthe housing, the combination of two aligned pairs of spaced superposedparallel bearings adapted to be secured to the inner faces of a pair ofopposed walls of the housing, a pair oi shafts, each extending throughand slidably mounted in a pair of said bearings, resilient pressureexerting means for and carried by a shaft between its pair 01! bearingsand abutting the upper bearing of the pair, a bearing on the lower endof each of said shafts, a horizontal shaft having its ends mounted inthe said bearings on the lower ends of the said pair of shafts, and aslack-take-up roller carried by said horizontal shaft for bearingagainst a run of said belt.'

3. In a floor washing and drying device, a housing including front, sideand rear walls and a bottom adapted to contain a body of liquid, saidhousing being formed in the upper part of its front wall with an outletand in the upper part of its rear wall with an intake, a liquid carrierin the form of an endless belt having respectively a V-shaped dependingpper 11m travelling through said intake into that-housing, through thelatter and the liquid and from the housing agitating means arrangedwithin the lower portion of the housing at the transverse center of thelatter, disposed over and engaging spaced parts of the upper face of thesaid upper run, drive means for the carrier arranged in the upperportion of the housing and formed of upper and lower elements and withthe lower element opposing in close relation to said intake, combinedcarrier squeezing and guide means within the upper part of the housingand formed of upper and lower elements and with the lower elementopposing in close relationsaid outlet, said front and rear walls havingtheir lower portions inset with respect to the lower corner portions ofthe sidewalls, and rollers journaled in the said lower corner portionsof the side walls, opposing said inset portions and against whichtravels said carrier.

JOHN L DEEGAN, SR. 25

